1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a teaching method and apparatus for teaching a proper golf swing. More particularly the invention concerns a novel method and apparatus for teaching and learning the game of golf by developing a left side to the golfer's swing through the use of a light weight ball and a light weight training club designed to be swung by the use of only the left hand.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
It has long been suggested, and teaching Golf Professionals agree, that a strong left side is an essential part of the correct golf swing. In fact, those knowledgeable of the game frequently state that golf is primarily a left-handed game played by right-handed persons.
The method of the present invention is largely a self-corrective one and initially makes use of a club which is about one third the weight of a normal club. As the teaching method progresses, incremental weights are added to the blade of a training club until a total of about two-thirds the weight of a normal club is realized.
A golf swing can be characterized to varying degrees of approximation by measuring elements of motion of the club during the swing. For example, the U.S. Pat. to Evans, No. 3,806,131, discloses a system wherein three elements of motion, namely acceleration, torque and shaft flex are measured during the swing. The U.S. Pat. to Hammond, No. 3,945,646, measures acceleration of the club head in three mutually perpendicular directions as well as the torque and flex of the shaft during the swing and thus obtains a closer approximation of the characteristics of a swing. The swing can be characterized to a higher degree of approximation by increasing the number of elements of motion measured during the swing, but this leads to a more complex system of measurement and leaves the problem of interpreting the data and making use of it to produce a proper swing to the learning player.
Important to the present invention is the fact that the characteristics of the swing can also be predicted by the action of the body on the club through the hands for a club of given mechanical properties. Thus, the placement of the elements of the body with respect to the ball and their motion during the swing also determines the characteristics of the swing. Further, the degree of approximation to a proper swing attained depends on the number of elements of body motion required for a proper swing that are considered and the effectiveness with which they are executed.
Instruction in the placement of the elements of the body required for a proper swing and their motion during the swing is the usual method of teaching and learning the game of golf. In the conventional approach to the teaching of the golf swing, the learning player is told that the entire backswing and downswing to about waist high on the off-target side is controlled dominantly by the left side. In the follow through from waist high to finish of the swing on the target side, the right side controls. Thus the sides that dominate the swing change from the left side at the beginning of the swing to the right side at the finish of the swing. From waist high down on the downswing to and through ball impact to waist high on the follow through both sides are joined in the force of the swing.
The difficulty arises in the multitude of elements of the body and their motion that must be executed in proper sequence and in a timely manner and that the elements of the body producing these motions cannot be clearly divided into those related to the left or right side. Thus the learning player is left in a condition where he cannot tell which side is dominant or subservient in controlling his swing at various points of the swing. The learning player is told to take the right side out of the backswing and the beginning of the downswing but the learning player himself cannot tell when he is or when he is not. The difficulty is compounded by the fact that in a right handed person his right side is much stronger than his left side so that there is a tendency for the right side to dominate throughout the swing. The method of the present invention contemplates eliminating in large part the aforementioned difficulties of teaching and learning the game of golf.